The five biggest mistakes made during presentations

Presenting to an audience - no matter how small or how large - is an important part of the way we do business today. It may be to motivate and influence our team to perform at their best, it may be to pitch for new business, it may be to present proposals to the board, to persuade the customer to buy, and it may be simply to convey to others information about a new process or a new idea.

But let’s look at the biggest mistakes made by people in business when they are presenting.

1. Not being concise.

This is what is called the ‘Waffle and Fluff’ syndrome. How often have you been watching a presentation and the presenter takes so much time to get to the point of his topic and or when they do, they add unnecessary and irrelevant material? Sure, there are various tools you can use as a presenter to engage your audience, but make sure you are clear on what your message is – and stay on topic. So cut the ‘waffle’ and ‘defluff’ the presentation.

2. Not understanding the audience’s needs.

If you’re going to be presenting to an audience, it’s important that you understand who they are, what is their level of understanding of what you’re talking about, and what they need from you. Do your research before you present. It’s often a very simple thing to do and will make your task easier and make your presentation a ‘fit’ for the audience.

3. Relying on PowerPoint.

We’ve all seen it – the presenter who not only has a lot of material on the PowerPoint presentation (Far too much detail to be read on the screen!), but he or she reads the PowerPoint material as each slide comes up. It’s as if they’ve written their all presentation on PowerPoint and then simply read it to the audience. PowerPoint is an aid to the presentation, it should be used to enhance what you are saying and, by following a few simple rules, can be a very effective enhancement to help convey the message. But when the person reads everything on the slide – or has too much on each slide – they lose the audience’s attention. Nothing will kill your presentation quicker – that’s why it’s called ‘Death by PowerPoint’.

4. Not engaging their audience.

Engaging the audience is important if we want to have any sort of impact. How can you sell, persuade, influence or motivate if you don't have the audience engaged? Engaging means they will want to listen to you, they will want to take on what you are saying, they will be motivated. If they're not engaged, they are just sitting there waiting for you to finish. So how do we engage our audience? Well, there are a number of ways - and they're easy to do.

Three of the ways are: 1. Being concise (see above) 2. Understanding your audience (see above again) and 3. Effective use of PowerPoint.

Even by simply looking at each person you will increase the level of engagement. But there are other ways - and they're not hard to incorporate in your presentations.

5. No call to action.

Any presentation has a purpose i.e. you have an objective in making that presentation. You may want them to buy your product, accept your proposal, take on and act on the new information or be inspired and motivated to change their behavior. Many presentations end with what can only be called a 'whimper'. It's as if the person making the presentation is so glad it's nearly over that they just want to finish and sit down. They are missing the all-important 'call to action'. If you're not incorporating a call to action at the end of your presentation, you should take time to learn how to do this - or your presentations will not be effective and get the outcome you are seeking.

You can avoid these big mistakes and set yourself apart from other colleagues and other presenters. Speaking effectively is such an important skill for anyone in business or in the corporate world today and those who take time to sharpen their skills in this area will stand out from the pack, will be more confident and will be more successful in achieving business outcomes.

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International Business Negotiations: Definition and Process

International executives attempt to negotiate for an optimal solution: minimizing conflicts and maximizing gains. It was found that a clear negotiation strategy was the most important factor for successful international business relationships. In international business negotiations, cultural differences are inevitable between negotiators from different countries. Cultural values can influence international business negotiations in significant and unexpected ways from the first to the last stage of a negotiation. The diversity of values of partners results in different approaches used in the negotiation process and variable expected outcomes. Successful international business negotiation is not guaranteed by following practical negotiation tips. In fact, it would be more useful for negotiators if the most critical success factors of international business negotiations in a particular culture could be identified in advance.

Negotiating with executives from different cultures requires an understanding and adaptability to these differences. Special approaches for particular cultures may be needed. An international business negotiation within the Thai culture, in particular, would require a unique emphasis from other cultures to achieve positive results in negotiations. Thailand is one of the most economically successful countries in Southeast Asia. Currently, various modes of international business transactions have been strongly promoted by the Thai government in order to increase international competitiveness. Thai entrepreneurs with international business potential are attempting to enter potential international markets. Simultaneously, inward foreign direct investment has also been promoted, using tax advantages and other incentives to motivate foreign investors to develop joint ventures or 100% owned operations in Thailand.

As international business opportunities open, negotiations also increase. Most Thai business negotiators have used a trial-and-error approach in negotiations. International negotiators tend to be more skillful as a result of learning through experience. Inexperienced business negotiators who want to be internationally effective have to learn more about the cultural aspect of business negotiations. Lack of preparation definitely impedes the development of an appropriate negotiation approach. To facilitate better international business negotiations for both Thai executives who negotiate internationally and foreign investors who operate in Thailand, the analysis of effective negotiation in this context is emphasized. The types of outcomes relevant to successful international business negotiations are also identified.

Theories of international negotiation with a focus on cross-cultural practice are presented. This provides the background to understand the cultural features of the negotiation process. This paper will assess the perceptions of success in international business negotiations and related elements of the negotiation process in a cross-cultural context. The study was conducted with Thai and International negotiators working in Thailand. The participants responded to past experience in successful international business negotiations, and what elements of the negotiation process they emphasize to achieve positive outcomes.

An international business negotiation is defined as the deliberate interaction of two or more social units (at least one of them a business entity), originating from different nations, that are attempting to define or redefine their interdependence in a business matter. This includes company-company, company-government, and solely interpersonal interactions over business matters such as sales, licensing, joint ventures, and acquisitions.

Generally, the process of negotiation consists of three different negotiation stages including the pre-, actual negotiation, and post- stages. The effective flow of the negotiation process can determine the success of a negotiation.

The pre-negotiation stage, which involves the preparation and planning, is the most important step in negotiation. It sets the foundation for the process of negotiating. It consists of interactions, such as building trust and relationships, and the task-related behaviors which focus on the preferences related to various alternatives. In brief, the first stage of negotiation emphasizes getting to know each other, identifying the issues, and preparing for the negotiation process.

The negotiation stage involves a face-to-face interaction, methods of persuasion, and the use of tactics. At this stage negotiators explore the differences in preferences and expectations related to developing an agreement.

The post-negotiation stage relates to concessions, compromises, evaluating the agreement, and following-up.

These stages are often done concurrently. The negotiation process is a dynamic process, involving a variety of factors related to potential negotiation outcomes.

International business negotiations are typically more complicated and difficult to assess than the negotiations taking place between negotiators from the same culture. This is because the values of the negotiators are different. Negotiators have unique perspectives on negotiations leading to different styles. Other external influences such as international law, exchange rates, and economic growth also increase the complexity of negotiations. International business negotiators need to understand each other’s values so that they can adapt their negotiating approaches to emerging situations.

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